Karen's Second Letter

August 26, 2012

Hi everyone, we now have officially been here one month.  Wow, what a month, we have learned so much and have really found out what it is like to be a foreigner.  We really love it here .  It is amazing how much can be accomplished when you are survival mode.  We have been in soaking rainstorms, splashed by buses, and had a couple of close calls with pigeons.  Over here pigeons are really protected.  There is a story about how they saved the Russians lives during the war by bringing them food.  We don't know more than that, but just let it be known they rule here.  They fly low and if you happen to be in the way, well, lets just say, good luck.  

We had a baptism on August 12.  It was the lawyer Aleyna.  She was so excited.  We have our own baptismal font in our branch. It was well attended and everything went smoothly.  The missionaries always give out flowers to those getting baptized, it is a nice touch. Coming home on the bus with the missionaries we had an event.  Frank and I had seats facing the door, while the missionaries were all standing in a circle talking.  All of a sudden a drunk steps on the bus with a fifth of whiskey and a dagger about eighteen inches long.  Let me tell you, we were all eyes.  The conductor on the bus was yelling at him because he had no money to pay, and he was yelling back at her.  We all knew that he was really no threat to us because he was so drunk that he could hardly stand up, but it was quite the sight. Soon the bus stopped and he got off, it was about 10:00pm.  

On Monday August 13, we got up and were studying when we got a call from Elder Balashov asking us if we would like to go on a hike to Stolby Park with all of the missionaries.  We of course did, knowing that we would not be able to stay the entire day because we had to get ready for family home evening.  We rode the bus about one hour and ended up in the most beautiful tree covered forest that you would see back East in America.  We were so happy to be there to breath the clear air, as it had rained the night before.  We walked at least two hours and then had to turn around and head back home.  On the way down the trail we smelled something familiar, we couldn't put our finger on it, but then, there it was, a doughnut shop about the size of a small garden shed.  We looked inside and there was a woman making doughnuts.  They were much different from our doughnuts as they were about the size of an onion ring.  She cooked them up and then added toppings to them like jam, honey, powdered sugar, and chocolate.  We ordered a batch with a glaze, we thought, but when we got them they were covered with a red sauce.  Frank always reminds me that if a purchase turns out fifty percent right, we are good to go. They were good to go and we ate all of them.   Who would have thought to have a doughnut shop right out on a mountain trail, great idea.

That night for family night we had everyone make tortillas and fill them with chicken Fajitas.  They all had fun cooking and eating them.  Then they played uno with spoons.  It got pretty wild.  This week we also went back to Lariss'a house.  Everything there is the same.  A few days ago I began to worry about them with winter coming on.  While we were there I had the Elders ask them if they were warm in the winter  They immediately said no, thirty degrees is as warm as it gets.  I am having a hard time shaking that statement.  I don't know how to help them, They have a floor heater, but there is just no way that two people can keep warm in a place like that.  I pray for them, but then I climb into my nice warm bed and think about them.  I will need therapy if I keep this up.  

Thurs Aug 16th was the Young Single Adult youth conference.  We didn't really receive any information on this conference so we packed a little of everything.  We knew that it was in the mountains at a resort and that is about all.  We wore our missionary clothes with our name tags and brought warm clothes and pajamas because it has been getting cooler here.  We rode buses for about one hour and then arrived at a place called Buzim.  It was in a beautiful setting with trees, a small lake, lots of land with swings, game areas, and places to walk.  We were right it was cold and we were prepared. As they were assigning rooms they looked at us and sort of skipped over us.  We kept standing there as each couple left to go to their room, but we were never told where to go.  We got the feeling that they didn't know what to do with us.  Frank began to investigate, and soon they sent an English speaking person over to us to inform us that there was not a room for us.  They told us that they would take us to a room where there was an extra couch bed.  We thought, oh goody for us.  The young man knocked on the door of a room and a  nice gentleman opened the door.  They explained to him the situation, he looked rather shocked and said, there is only one bed here.  The young man said well the couch makes into a bed.  He reluctantly let us in and told us to sit down.  We had a great time talking, they were so nice to us.  They are the Jones' from Fruit Heights on a mission in Moscow.  They were not part of the conference because the conference was only Siberian Russia, but they were in charge of the games because Elder Bennet was one of the speakers, and they work in his office.  Anyway we felt like we were really imposing on them because they were using the extra couch for all of their game supplies, and they were so busy getting everything ready.  We felt so foolish we were both praying to ourselves that they would find somewhere for us to go.  After visiting for sometime, we decided to go for a walk and see what was up.  They did find a room, but it was in another building.  We were taken there and when the door opened, I felt like we had gone back in time, to about the early 1800's.  Oh my gosh, the couch and chairs and flooring, if you could call it that were so old that I was afraid to sit on them for fear they would crumble.  There was a really damp, musty smell.  The flooring was grey and looked like it was  sort of a  felt like material with  really big water stains.  The bathroom was pretty good, but we found out later there was no hot water, just tepid. We were the fastest showers there. The beds were actually twin beds about the size and looks of what the three bears would have slept in.  Luckily we had flannel jammies, and plenty of socks to wear.   Dad's pillow weighed about 20 pounds, he could hardly lift it. The first morning I got up first and put on my walk around socks when I felt a dampness.  I told dad that they really do have a water problem here, he ask, "what do you mean?"  I replied, well, right here and now the floor is wet. Oh well, what do you do, we were so grateful for a room that there was no way we were going to complain.  So for the next three days this is how we lived.  We really didn't spend much time in our room, it was all good.  The youth conference was amazing, the YSA did a wonderful job. the theme was WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE.   The food was really good, real Russian food.  For breakfast there was a buffet with eggs, bread, jam, three kinds of mush, different kinds of meats and cheeses, lots of vegetables, and of course juice.  The Russians love their juices.  The kids just ate and ate, they loved it all.  For lunch there was always a pot of soup on the table.  We all loved the soup, you could tell that the soup was made with whatever was left over from the day before, but it was always good.    Many different kinds of rolls, some with powdered sugar on them, we got the idea that they were the desert.  

The highlight of the conference was the baptism of two girls from Kazakhstan.  One of the girls is Muslim.  We got to know  Alina, what a sweetheart.  She had had all of the missionary lessons before arriving at the conference.  Her baptism was planned ahead and President Gibbons was going to baptize her, she was so excited,  The other little gal decided the day before, and so President Gibbons spent the evening and night until about 11:00pm giving her all of the lessons.  The reason that these baptisms were so incredible was the fact that they were going to take place in the lake just beyond the main building.  The water was of course very cold because of where is is located and also because it had been raining there for days on end.  Also to top it off, Kazakhstan has tightened their rules about the meeting of organizations, religious and non religious.  They had put some new laws into effect because of terror threats, making it very hard for anyone to meet together for any reason.  The missionaries there will not be teaching anymore or baptizing, or preaching.  They will only be able to have a presence there and do only service.  There is a chance that they will be sent out of the country all together.  So these little girls knew that if they wanted to be baptized, it was now or never.  The hour was set and we were all there to witness this historic sight. First Alina was baptized.  After she came out of the water and walked ashore a bit, sister Gibbons was there with towels to cover her so that she wouldn't chill.  I was close to her and said, are you freezing, she looked at me and said, "no, I feel so warm."  I then, of course, began to cry.  What a statement, what testimony, what an example of a true pioneer.  I will always cherish this experience and know that this is history in the making.  The Lord provides a way for his children who are poor in spirit, seeking to follow him.  What a blessing to be there, I would have slept in the hallway to have witnessed this event.  If any of you want to email her to congratulate her, her email is a.um.212@mail.ru just let her know that you are friends and family of Elder and Sister Noel. When we arrived home, we were so excited because our hot water had been turned on.  Wow how blessed are we.  The missionaries stopped by and we ate bread and jam until it was gone. We had family night again and served banana splits, they loved them.  Tuesday we had a fun adventure to a place called the Planetta.  It is a huge mall with very nice stores.  The grocery store is similar to a Walmart.  We found things there that we have not been able to find anywhere else.  Dad took me to TGI Fridays, what a treat.  The menu is in English and Russian, and is the same menu as America.  We thought we had died and gone to heaven.  The prices are not good, about twice what you would pay in America, but it was worth every penny.  

We had a visit from our land lady, she was very nice and tried to get something done on the oven.  I really isn't a problem, we just duct tape it closed and it works fine, but she wants to get it fixed so someday I suppose that will happen. We also found a store that is exactly like HOME DEPOT, DAD was so excited, he really spent time "runckeling" (that's his word)  around there.  He immediately started buying cabinet handles for the cabinets in our apartment.  They are really dirty, and we can't seem to get them clean, so that is what we did.  Then he started talking about buying some kind of a counter top to cover over the one we have because of the tile and dirty grout.  We have scrubbed it and scrubbed it, but you just can't seem to get it clean.  I just started laughing thinking about us on the bus with a counter top. He is always trying to made life better wherever we are.  Just get him in a hardware store, and the wheels begin to turn.

        Oh, by the way,  Kathy Postma, I found out that our elder Probst is the younger brother of your Elder Probst.  Wow what a sharp kid, he just got here from Novosibirsk.

Well, am signing off, hoping that all is well with all of you.  We love you all and pray for you.  Please be safe and careful and know of our love for you.  Hugs  Elder and Sister Noel ( Grandma and Grandpa)